Taco Tuesday!

Here's a GREAT recipe for Taco Tuesday!

My family LOVES Mexican food and "Taco Tuesday" is pretty much a weekly event at our house.  So I thought I would share this recipe I tried from Pinterest back in December and I'm making again TONIGHT. (with a little variation, details below)

Here's the picture and link to the original poster:

Crock Pot Beef Carnitas Tacos

Here's the recipe according to the original recipe:

Ingredients:

2 lbs flank steak

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

for spice rub—

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

for serving—

corn tortillas

avocado slices

cilantro

your favorite salsa

limes

Directions:

Mix together all spices in a small bowl. Rub the spices all over your flank steak—be generous here! Then, place your steak at the bottom of your crock pot.

Cover the steak with the chopped onions, bell peppers and jalapeno pepper. Turn heat on LOW and cook for 8 hours.

After 8 hours, remove meat from crock pot and shred with a fork. It should be incredibly easy to shred. You can either stick the shredded meat back in the pot for another hour or serve as is.

To serve, heat your corn tortillas in a skillet on the stove. Spoon some carnitas on a tortilla then top with salsa, avocado, cilantro and a squeeze of lime.

Enjoy with a margarita for best result.

Here's my take on it and what I plan to do tonight...

As far as the recipe goes, I followed it pretty closely but I didn't use the red pepper just because we are not big fans of bell peppers.  But I did use everything else and it turned out AMAZING!  We all LOVED these tacos and I loved how easy they were.  Just prepare the beef in the morning and stick it in the crock pot and you are good for dinner.  We were in a hurry that night b/c of a School Christmas Program and it was the perfect thing to eat quickly.  I almost wished we had time to savor and enjoy it a bit though. :)

Now tonight I wanted to make this again, but I didn't get to the grocery store until noon.  You need 8 hours to cook the beef...  So I did buy the flank steak, (and I'll freeze it for another time) but I also bought already prepared and shredded beef:

This was easy to find, even at my Henry's which is a "health food" grocery store.  So since I didn't have the 8 hours needed today, I plan to put this plain shredded beaf in my crock pot and add the seasonings, the onions and jalapeño and cook it for about 2-3 hours instead!  I think this will work out and I'll put a note on here after I make it tonight and let you know how it tasted and what was a good cooking time for the already cooked meat.  I'm sure the original way is much better and I would suggest doing it that way if you have the time, but I'm excited to see how this QUICK version will turn out too!

My overall review is:

Preperation:  EASY 

Directions:  TRUE TO WORD and I like to change things up and they still tasted great (imho)

Presentation:  YUMMY.  I mean doesn't that picture at the top make you want to eat this right now!?
Would I make it again:  YES, and I'm excited to try this tonight with my quicker version.  But I do plan on making it again with the original recipe too.

Enjoy!

UPDATE:  The family liked the easy version just as much!  It was moist and flavorful and took a LOT less time.  But tonight I'm going back to the original version so I'll see what they think again.  This is SO easy and I Love having something in the crockpot all day and when dinner comes around, it's pretty much ready!  No fussing in the kitchen while homework is being done.  LOVE it.

A Cookie for anytime of year!

When I first made these cookies I found on Pinterest, it was the Holidays.  So I thought about waiting to post this recipe until we approached next Christmas Season, but then I thought "Why?  This is my new FAVORITE cookie... why wait a whole year to make them again?"

So here it is:

Oatmeal Peppermint Dipped Cookies

I found this recipe on Pinterest and I've linked the original poster of this recipe above.

I don't know about you, but I always seem to have left over candy canes that I end up putting in the freezer and saving.  So I figured this might be a good time to get those out and make these for a Valentine's Day treat!!    I mean, I like peppermint all year round and I don't know why we have to "save" it for Christmas...  So I'm turning them into my Valentine's Day cookie for the girls!

Here's the recipe:

• Cream until fluffy:
• 1 C butter
• 1 C brown sugar
• 1 C sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• Add:
• 1 1/2 C flour
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 C regular oats (not instant)
• 1 C Andes Peppermint Baking Chips or other chip. (mint or white chocolate)
• 2 C white chocolate, almond bark or Wilton Vanilla Melts for dipping
• Crushed candy cane for sprinkling.

I  didn't use Andes Chips or bark, I just bought Ghiradelli (or you could use Nestle) White Chocolate Chips for both the chips to go inside and for melting on the outside.  You'll need at least 2 bags.

Instructions:

• 
  
• Cream together butter and sugars. Add in the vanilla and eggs.  Combine the dry ingredients and mix in.  Add in white chocolate chips.  Dough can be formed into a roll and refrigerated or frozen or baked right away.  Use a scoop or spoon to shape dough into a ball and place on cookie sheet.  These are somewhat big cookies, so I could only make about 8 per cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until light brown on the edges and cooked through.
• 
  
• After they are completely cooled, you can add the melted chocolate and the crushed candy canes.  I like to put the candy canes in a small ziploc baggie and take a big mallet and pound on the bag until they are crushed.  The kids love to do this part and I just make sure the bag is sealed and I put a towel on top of the bag so the bag doesn't explode!  Then melt the white chocolate until a nice smooth  consistency.  I like to put the choc. chips in a 2 cups glass measuring cup and put it in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Then I take it out, stir and repeat for another 30 seconds.  This usually takes about 4-5 times before it's all melted, but it's best to do it in short segments so the chocolate doesn't burn.  When it's all melted, dip one end of the cookie into the chocolate about 1/3 - 1/4 of the way, depending on our much chocolate you want on each cookie.  Lay on a parchment lined cookie sheet or on the countertop and sprinkle with crushed candy cane.  Allow to set up... or not,  if you LOVE warm melted white chocolate.  (yes, I think I ate more in this state than the finished state :)  Here's a picture of the ones I made:

My overall review is:  

Preparation:  EASY

Directions: TRUE TO WORD

Presentation: VERY FESTIVE FOR ANY OCCASION

Flavor: FANTASTIC, a chewy oatmeal cookie with a burst of peppermint and white chocolate

Would I make it again: YES, just counting down the days...

These are GREAT cookies and my mouth is watering just thinking about them.  Unfortunately, I'm trying to shed a few pounds so I will have to wait patiently for Valentine's Day to arrive so I can have a "cheat day" and make these!!

Hope you enjoyed this post, I'm sorry it was a while in between this and my last one.  I was in Las Vegas enjoying some of my FAVORITE food and lost track of time...  I will talk more about one of those experiences next week and you will NOT want to miss it.  It's my ALL TIME FAVORITE DESSERT, and I have the recipe!!!  It's an amazing dessert from one of the TOP restaurants in Las Vegas and it's their signature dessert... and I scored the recipe!!  (had to pay a little for it, but it was SO worth it! )

I've linked my Pinterest Boards at the top and here for you to check out and start following if you're interested.  I have many interests including food, so maybe you'll find some other inspiration over on Pinterest and you might even want to join me in ITALY each year as I host a weeklong event in Lake Como, Italy!!

Ciao,

Laura

I'll leave you with a photo of my daughter's "thumbs up" on these:

Huckleberry (or Blueberry) Coffee Cake

This recipe is so fast and easy and people will LOVE it!

I found this recipe about 8 years ago when I was looking for something for a girls get together.  I host some scrapbooking classes/crops at my house some times and I like to make dinner and some snacks for everyone.  This is a GREAT recipe that is perfect after a meal with a nice coffee.  The ladies love it and so does everyone else when I make it for other occasions.

This recipe is from an old Cooking Light Magazine and it calls for Huckleberries, which are AWESOME if you can find them, but you can substitute Blueberries which are much easier to find in your local grocery store.  My mom comes from Huckleberry "land" (Montana) so when I saw this I thought of her and my fond memories of going to Montana in the summer and picking berries and having Huckleberry Ice-cream!

As you know by now I use mostly organic items when I cook or bake, but you are free to use what you are used to using.

Here's a picture of the coffee cake I made this morning:

Here's the Recipe:

Low Fat Huckleberry (or Blueberry) Coffee Cake:

1/4 Cup Butter; softened
4 oz. 1/3 Less Fat Cream Cheese; softened
1 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp. Salt
1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 Cups. Huckleberries or Blueberries

Topping:

1/2 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 Tbsp. Butter; softened

To Make:

Combine the butter, cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. A note on the cream cheese:  I use 1/3 less fat cc b/c the non-fat version they call for just doesn't seem to result in a nice, moist coffee cake.  You can choose to use the non-fat if you are really watching the calories, but I suggest the 1/3 fat if not. I like to quickly melt the butter and cream cheese in the microwave for about 15 seconds so it's easier to mix by hand.   You can use a mixer but I prefer to use a wisk or fork to mix this recipe.  Then add the egg and mix together.  Then add the dry ingredients and blend everything together.  I didn't understand why they added the vanilla as the last ingredient before the blueberries until after I tasted it.  I think it just makes the vanilla flavor more powerful for some reason and I love it that way.  Now here is where I veer from the original recipe again... it's a habit of mine.

I don't like a lot of fruit in it.  So I wash a hand full of berries and let them dry.  I do NOT mix them IN the mixture.  After the mixture is mixed with the vanilla, I pour the batter into a round baking dish that I've prepared with a oil spray and spread around the entire pan.  Then I PLACE the berries on top in a pattern.  This is not necessary, you can can just sprinkle them on, but I like to have them spaced pretty and I have one daughter you despises blueberries so I always leave an area devoid of blueberries for her!  :)

Once I have the blueberries on top, I press them lightly into the batter.  This way they are not cooking on top, but in the mix.  Now the original recipe calls for just a sprinkling of sugar and cinnamon on top but I took it a step further.  I made a little "crumble" for the top (Topping recipe above) and sprinkled that on top instead.  I LOVE cinnamon, but not in some things and fruit and cinnamon just don't go together in my book unless it's apples.  So I top my coffee cake with the crumble mixture and bake it all together at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until it's nice a light brown on top and the coffee cake bounces back when you touch it.

It's SO amazing right out of the oven with a nice cup of coffee!  I'm still enjoying the lingering flavor in my mouth as I write this!  :)

So I hope you enjoy this recipe on a nice rainy weekend at home.

Since this isn't a "Pinterest" recipe but kind of my own, I'll still review it, but will then add it to Pinterest after I've put this up on my blog.

My overall review is:

Preperation:  EASY
Directions:  I've changed them so much from the original Cooking Light Recipe, but I think they are still easy to follow and hopefully true to my word.. Let me know of that someone!
Presentation:  SIMPLE.  For a step up on presentation, you can go to your local baking supply store and buy those round paper paper cooking pans for a really nice look and you'll impress your guests for sure!
Flavor:  FANTASTIC
Would I make it again:  YES, and I have for over 8 years now and every time I get people asking me to make it when they are coming over!


Enjoy!

Baked Fontina with crusty bread

Since today is Friday and the weekend is here I thought I would share a great recipe for a quick get together.  We are having a little UFC party this weekend and I thought I'd make this tomorrow.  I did find this recipe on Pinterest.

This recipe is fast and easy and tastes SO fresh and yummy!

Here's the photo from Pinterest:

Looks HEAVENLY right?

Well, it comes pretty close to that.  Here's the recipe and link to the person who posted it on Pinterest.

Baked Fontina w/Crusty Bread:

1 1/2 lbs. Fontina cheese in 1" cubes

6 Cloves of Garlic, chopped fine

1 Tbsp. Fresh Thyme, chopped fine

1 Tsp. Fresh Rosemary, chopped fine

3 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1/2 Tsp. Salt

1/2 Tsp. Pepper

Crusty Bread of your choice

I think I've mentioned this before, but when you have a recipe that only has 5 ingredients it's just makes for a simple and fresh result!  I love it.  You really can taste all the flavors and it's not just a bunch of flavors coming at you.

Now I will warn you that Fontina cheese is expensive.  I made this three times during the Holidays and to cut the cost I used 1/2 Fontina and 1/2 Gouda.  It still tasted great and everyone liked it but there was one problem.  After about 20 minutes the whole thing globbed together and it was difficult to get just a little bit for your piece of crusty bread.  I don't know if that would be the case no matter what cheese you used.  The last time I decided to JUST use Fontina and it did the same things.  So I looked up what other cheese are good MELTING cheeses and it said to try these:

Emmenthal, Gruyere, Monterey Jack

So I think I am going to give it a try next time with the Fontina and either Emmenthal or Gruyere.  I will let you know how that works out.  But I really think this is more about the overall taste of this "dip" than exactly which cheese you use.

Back to the recipe...

Preheat your oven to Broil.  Make sure your top rack is within about 5-6: from the boiler units.

Next you want to cut up the cheese in 1" cubes and place in a cast iron skillet.  Now I don't have one, so I used a non-stick skillet.  Then you want to chop the herbs finely and add those on top of the cheese.  Then drizzle the EVOO on top of all of that and add a bit of salt & pepper.

Pop the skillet with all the ingredients into the over and let it all melt together for about 6 minutes or until it's all bubbly and melted.

CAUTION:  THIS IS WHERE YOU NEED TO BE CAREFUL!!

The skillet is BURNING HOT, so DO NOT TAKE OUT UNLESS YOU HAVE YOUR HOT PADS/GLOVES ON!!!

Place this on a heat proof surface and serve with your crusty bread.   I used a French Baguette but you could use your favorite crusty bread and it will be to your liking.

Here's a picture of how mine looked when I took it out of the oven:

Obviously not as pretty at the Pinterest picture, but just as tasty I'm sure!!  

As a side note: I also made this one time for a class I taught and so after it came out of the oven I put it in a crock pot to take it with me.  They ladies LOVED this appetizer and even though after time it did kind of glob together, it was worth trying to get a piece because the flavor is amazing!

I'm going to try this again this weekend with some of the "melting" cheese mentioned above and I will report back and let you know how it went.

My overall review is:  

Preparation:  EASY

Directions: TRUE TO WORD

Presentation: LOVE THE BISTRO LOOK & FEEL

Flavor: FANTASTIC

Would I make it again: YES and I have people asking me for the recipe

I highly recommend this recipe for a quick, easy and tasty appetizer.  I would even have this with a salad and a nice glass of wine and call it a meal!  

Enjoy,

Laura

If you want to follow MY Pinterest boards you can find me here.

Chicken in a SNAP...

My 1st Pinterest Recipe Test and Review:

My first recipe on this food blog was my own, so today I thought I would actually test and review one that I found ON Pinterest

I don't know the name of this recipe b/c it doesn't have a title and when you click on the link it's a bit sketchy. So since the recipe details were right below the picture, I would suggest just going off of that and NOT clicking on the link.  As a side note:  Pinterest has gotten so popular that some "scam" websites have linked up to Pinterest.  Now Pinterest tries hard to block them from coming up, but once in a while I'm a bit reluctant when I get to a website that doesn't look like anything to do with the picture I clicked on.  So be careful...

Ok, here's the picture of the recipe that I found on Pinterest:

and below are the instructions that come with it:

4-6 raw chicken breasts, new potatoes, green beans (fresh or canned-really any green veggie would work. Broccoli is good, too). Arrange in 913 dish. Sprinkle with a packet of Italian dressing mix and then top with a melted stick of butter. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Enjoy!


Here's my REVIEW of this recipe:

I'm calling this recipe "Chicken in a Snap"

The instructions above that were included are VERY easy and when you have only 5 ingredients to make a meal, I'm doing the happy dance for sure!

I did everything like it said to do and I would highly suggest using FRESH green beans so it's all as healthy as possible.  Again, as I stated in a previous post, I used an organic Italian dressing mix packet that I got at Henry's Market.  I combined everything in rows just as the picture shows, but used a little less butter for calorie purposes.  I baked it in the glass 9x13 dish and covered it with foil.  The only difference on my end is that it took a bit longer than the 1 hour to cook through the potatoes.  Maybe I will cut them a bit smaller next time.

Here's what my finished dish looked like:

This is an Instagram photo, so the lighting is a little of but the dish looked great and tasted GREAT too!

The flavor was reminiscent of dishes we've had in Paris, France.  It's had a "rustic" feel to it with all the food cooked together in one dish and the flavors together were the perfect combination of Bistro style food.

My overall review is:  

Preparation:  EASY

Directions: TRUE TO WORD

Presentation: LOVE THE BISTRO LOOK & FEEL

Flavor: FANTASTIC

Would I make it again: YES, ONCE A WEEK, WITH SLIGHT VARIATIONS FOR VARIETY

I highly recommend trying out this easy, flavorful recipe and adding it to your weekly meal plan!

Next week I'll be busy at the Craft & Hobby Association Trade Show, but will bring another recipe to you later in the week.

Let me know if you try this recipe out and any thoughts YOU have on it...

Laura

Welcome to my new Blog!

Happy 2013!!

I've decided to take start a new chapter in my blogging, (I have two other blogs) and thought it would be a fun and tasty journey to share Pinterest Recipes in a blog format. I still haven't had a chance to make this blog PRETTY, but I'm going to work on that soon... but I'm excited about this nonetheless!

So, my goal for this blog is to try recipes from Pinterest, take photos of the process and the results, then share on here my "review" of the recipe, how easy or difficult it was and hopefully get YOU trying these recipes as well!

Why just Pinterest recipes?

Well,  because you can find just about ANY recipe on Pintererst.. actually you can find multiple recipes for the SAME thing on Pinterest.  Also because I'm probably addicted to Pinterest. Ya no,  I AM ADDICTED to it.   I {LOVE} it so, so much for all kinds of reasons, but why not use this amazing site to expand our repretoire of recipes while we're at it??

I've been trying a LOT of recipes from Pinterest over the Holidays and have quite a few recipes to bring to you soon, but I thought I would start with my OWN recipes first.   I love cooking and have had a few lofty ideas of creating my own cookbook, trying out for the Next Food Network Star and being the next Giada De Laurentiis. (minus the Italian bloodlines, well more on that another time...) So here's a couple recipes of my OWN to start of this journey through Pinterest... and I'll be "pinning" these recipes so they will technically be Pinterest recipes soon enough.

I usually make both of these recipes together as a meal when we are trying to stay healthy and fit.  And since this is a New Year and a NEW START I thought this would be a great place to start.

I want to add a side-note here:   I'm about a 80% Organic cook.  I like to try and buy as much organic as I can.  Shopping at Trader Joes, Henrys and Albertsons helps with that, but there is no rule here that anything has to be organic.  So if my recipe calls for something organic, don't fret... go with what you have and what your comfortable with.

OK, The first recipe is my Bean and Corn Salsa.  I usually DOUBLE this recipe for a family of 5, and to have a little leftovers for my lunch the next day.

Laura's Bean & Corn Salsa:

1 Can Organic Black Beans

1 Cup Organic Frozen Corn

1 Avocado

4 Green Onions

3 Garlic Cloves

1/4 Cup Cilantro

2 Limes

Salt & Pepper

1/4 Cup Red Wine Vinegar

2 TBS. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

To Start:  Drain & rinse the black beans and put in large bowl.  Cook the frozen corn in a small bowl with water in the microwave for about 1 minute or until soft and thawed.  Drain the water and add to the large bowl with the bean.  Dice the green onions and cilantro together (I usually use my Pampered Chef Food Chopper, pictured below) until they are very fine.

After the cilantro and green onions are diced, add to the large bowl.   Press the garlic cloves through a garlic press and add to the bowl. Then dice up the avocado into small cubes and add to the bowl.  Roll the limes on the counter, (to release their juices) then slice in half and extract the juice over the bowl of ingredients. (I usually use a fork to squeeze the juice out)  Then add the red wine vinegar and olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.  Mix all the contents together and taste.  This is where I usually take a Trader Joes Organic Blue Corn Tortilla chip and taste test.  I like my recipe to have a little "kick" to it, so I usually end up adding a little more vinegar and lime.  So you test and add to your liking...

and then enjoy with some tortilla chips or raw vegetables!

The next recipe is a chicken recipe I got from Sunset Magazine years ago.  I have to say that I don't follow recipes to a "T"... like never.  I don't know why this is, I'm not a rebel usually... but I just tweak them to our liking.  Our family is kind of picky.  We don't like tomatoes, white onions, mushrooms... and the list goes on.  So I think that's why I usually come up with my own version of recipes.  So this Sunset Magazine Chicken has been changed to our liking, and I hope you like it to.

Sunset Recipe's Tangy Chicken (my way)

4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

5 Green Onions

1/3 Cup Cilantro

4 Garlic Cloves

2 Limes

1 Tbs. Spanish Paprika

1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

To Make:  Cut up the chicken breasts into about 1" cubes and put into large bowl.  Chop the green onions, cilantro and garlic in a "food chopper" (Like the one I used in the recipe above) and add to the bowl.  Squeeze the juice of the two limes into the bowl.  Add the paprika (can be spanish or regular), the olive oil and salt & pepper to the bowl.  Mix around and let sit for about 30 minutes to marinate.  To cook, you can do this two ways.  You can skewer the chicken on metal or wood skewers and BBQ them until cooked through.  Or you can use a griddle on the stovetop to cook.  This is an easier way and in cold weather it's the only way to go!  You can see in the picture below that I've used the indoor method this time around.  They come out the same, it's just how you prefer to do it.

These are all the pieces on my griddle pan on the stove.  You can see the size and the marinate on them as they cook.  They will cook on both sides for a total of about 8 minutes, or until they are cooked through.  We normally eat these with the salsa and chips as a complete meal when we are trying to watch our weight and carbs.  Here's a photo of the chicken when cooked through. 

This is some TASTY chicken to be sure!  I've doubled and even tripled this recipe and then used the left-overs for a chicken salad the next night!  I LOVE this chicken in my "Chicken Tortilla Salad" that I tweaked from a Bon Appetit recipe about 20 years ago!  Maybe I'll share that one some day too...

Ok, that's a wrap.  

Hope you will keep me posted if you try my recipes.  I would love to hear from you... the good, the bad and the YUMMY!!

Have a GREAT day,

Laura

P.S.  If you are into creating ART for the home with your photos or if you love to travel AND be creative, you can take a look at my other two blogs:

A Kiss on the Chic's Creative Retreats  

or

A Kiss on the Chic

Coming Soon...

I just wanted to post a little bit to say that this blog will be LIVE very soon!

I haven't had a chance to start making it cute and adding Pinterest Recipes yet, but after the New Year, please come back here and check out the FUN things I have in store for YOU!

Have a very BLESSED Christmas,

Laura